Artist: Geheimnisvoll
Country: USA
Label: Nithstang Productions
Formats: LP
Year: 2025
Although not overly prolific, Geheimnisvoll has steadily been building a rather impressive reputation for being one of the absolute flagships of the “new wave” of American Raw Black Metal bands. Most of the credits might go to acts like Sanguine Relic and Orgy Of Carrion for instance, but Geheimnisvoll by far isn’t any less interesting or influential. So, with that in mind, it is only well-deserved to take a look back at the early goings of this illustrious one-man in the form of the vinyl edition of ‘Perished Summonings’, originally released on cassette tape back in 2021.
This compilation brings together the project’s debut EP ‘Venomous Sorcery Through Hidden Darkness’ and the split cassette with Borda’s Rope, both originally surfaced in 2019. Although both of these early recordings were already reissued as stand-alone releases, these recordings are not all too easy to obtain now, some five-plus years later. So, that is only the first argument to give these tracks a vinyl treatment as well.
Another, rather vital, one is that these formed the basis of what Geheimnisvoll is today, and frankly, that already showed through these earliest recordings. Today, we do know that Sceadugenga has an impeccable sense for melodies, dynamics and overall suspenseful song writing – as also shown in his other projects/bands like Grundhyrde, Waelwang and especially Åndutsyn, but that was already part of the game this early on in the Geheimnisvoll career.
Although I am usually not that fond of remixing and remastering older recordings, I think this time around it was actually a good idea. Whoever was responsible for that slight revamping, he did a great job. None of the original energy and atmosphere is lost, but it all sounds just a little more punchy and the individual tracks do feel much more coherent in each other’s company with this slightly updated sound.
While the first few tracks on this compilation LP are familiar, at least for those who were fortunate enough to get a copy of the original releases – or at least played them through whatever streaming service. But in addition to the songs that appeared on the cassette tape version of ‘Perished Summonings’, this vinyl edition offers some more tracks. There is an extra 7” EP that comes with this release and offers two tracks that were originally released as a part of the split LP with Ātesh from 2022 (omitting the third and last track of that release) as well as two tracks that, as far as I was able to find out, have never been released before.
I have no clue when or where these new (or at least unreleased) tracks have been recorded, but in terms of musical value, they are in sync with the other tracks on this compilation. On a personal level I do have a slight preference for the first tracks taken from the ‘Venomous Sorcery Through Hidden Darkness’ EP, but the margins are actually really thin, with the only differentiation is the degree of rawness and the recording quality.
In case you would not be able to obtain a copy of this vinyl compilation, or for whatever reason do not want one, there’s the digital version on the project’s Bandcamp page. And there’s even one more track, a live rehearsal recorded back in December 2019. This actually shows the true black energy of this incredible project, you’ll hear that Geheimnisvoll is worth every bit of praise. And then some.
